glen a richter wrote:Chris Stewart was the teenager who goofs off every day in school and tells his parents and teachers he's going to change but never does. I'm afraid Ott will be the same.

He also may have had a reality check when no teams came calling and thought he was out of a job. He says other teams were talking to him but what player would come right out and say other than the Blues nobody has called...Maybe he will be a better player now...as always I cheer for the shirt not player...he's a Blue and we will deal with it...

Guys, while we are busy knocking Ott for the shitty 23 games he had with the Blues last year, we overlook the fact that the guy was Buffalo's captain prior to the trade. Yes, it's Buffalo, but still, a captain. So one thing this guy doesn't lack is character. Let's see what he can do for the Blues when healthy.

glen a richter wrote:Chris Stewart was the teenager who goofs off every day in school and tells his parents and teachers he's going to change but never does. I'm afraid Ott will be the same.

As pessimistic as I've been about the signing, my optimistic side is saying that he was only with us for 30 games. We got 3 years of Stewart's B.S. Ott still has time to change my opinion. And now that we've got a pretty decent pair of 1/2 line centers, Ott hopefully won't be pulled up into that role. We'll see.

And Comrade does make a good point, Ott was a captain. So character in the locker room isn't an issue.

Oaklandblue wrote:Sobotka's numbers and production might push him more towards a 3rd line/4th line assignment but nobody, absolutely NOBODY played with as much heart as him. Period. Boat had the team's pulse and that's all there is to it. You knock him down, you put him down, he got back up. People say Morrow is a warrior, but there ain't no other player on this team that's more a warrior than the Boat and that has to inspire his teammates and sets the bar for others. Really hoping he comes back to us soon.

With that said, How can anyone...anyone...defend us re-signing Ott? Oh wait, we need Centers, okay gotcha, but with that said....

2013 - 2014 0G/3A/-122012 - 2013 9G/11A -262012 - 2013 9G/15A -3

THIS IS WORTH 2.6M A YEAR? ON WHAT PLANET?

We could get an AHLer to do this much for league minimum. But we paid 2.6m for the throw-in for Ryan Miller.

But Ott's not as bad as we all think, right? Bullshit. He's worse.

Well, to be fair...Ott isn't being paid to put up good offensive numbers. That isn't his role...never has been, so it's not fair to post those numbers and say he isn't worth the money based on those numbers.Ott is a checking agitator...a good one... who will play on the 3rd/4th line and might put up around 10 goals.

I don't think it's ridiculous to feel that Ott will have a better year than last year...and that is what the Blues ownership is banking on. And $2.6 million may be a tad too much for Ott, but it's not a ridiculous contract. I'd have liked them to have signed Ott for closer to $2 million...but it is what it is. It's not like he'll be playing on the top 2 lines...if that was the plan, then I'd be on board with the outrage.

Oaklandblue wrote:Sobotka's numbers and production might push him more towards a 3rd line/4th line assignment but nobody, absolutely NOBODY played with as much heart as him. Period. Boat had the team's pulse and that's all there is to it. You knock him down, you put him down, he got back up. People say Morrow is a warrior, but there ain't no other player on this team that's more a warrior than the Boat and that has to inspire his teammates and sets the bar for others. Really hoping he comes back to us soon.

With that said, How can anyone...anyone...defend us re-signing Ott? Oh wait, we need Centers, okay gotcha, but with that said....

2013 - 2014 0G/3A/-122012 - 2013 9G/11A -262012 - 2013 9G/15A -3

THIS IS WORTH 2.6M A YEAR? ON WHAT PLANET?

We could get an AHLer to do this much for league minimum. But we paid 2.6m for the throw-in for Ryan Miller.

But Ott's not as bad as we all think, right? Bullshit. He's worse.

Well, to be fair...Ott isn't being paid to put up good offensive numbers. That isn't his role...never has been, so it's not fair to post those numbers and say he isn't worth the money based on those numbers.Ott is a checking agitator...a good one... who will play on the 3rd/4th line and might put up around 10 goals.

I don't think it's ridiculous to feel that Ott will have a better year than last year...and that is what the Blues ownership is banking on. And $2.6 million may be a tad too much for Ott, but it's not a ridiculous contract. I'd have liked them to have signed Ott for closer to $2 million...but it is what it is. It's not like he'll be playing on the top 2 lines...if that was the plan, then I'd be on board with the outrage.

Considering our lack of depth at center, someone gets hurt, Ott will be playing mid - top line minutes and his ceiling is ridiculously low.

400k more for ONE year and we'd have had Boat.

2.6 could have easily gotten Scott Gomez + (note the plus). Why have players who can only perform in a limited role and not a player than can contribute across the board even if it's in smaller ways. Boat was a far more complete player than Ott. Ott doesn't bring in experience winning jack. I'm sorry I don't see the upside to this and would love to eat Crow and see him catch fire but I honestly don't see it in the xards.

Oaklandblue wrote:Sobotka's numbers and production might push him more towards a 3rd line/4th line assignment but nobody, absolutely NOBODY played with as much heart as him. Period. Boat had the team's pulse and that's all there is to it. You knock him down, you put him down, he got back up. People say Morrow is a warrior, but there ain't no other player on this team that's more a warrior than the Boat and that has to inspire his teammates and sets the bar for others. Really hoping he comes back to us soon.

With that said, How can anyone...anyone...defend us re-signing Ott? Oh wait, we need Centers, okay gotcha, but with that said....

2013 - 2014 0G/3A/-122012 - 2013 9G/11A -262012 - 2013 9G/15A -3

THIS IS WORTH 2.6M A YEAR? ON WHAT PLANET?

We could get an AHLer to do this much for league minimum. But we paid 2.6m for the throw-in for Ryan Miller.

But Ott's not as bad as we all think, right? Bullshit. He's worse.

Well, to be fair...Ott isn't being paid to put up good offensive numbers. That isn't his role...never has been, so it's not fair to post those numbers and say he isn't worth the money based on those numbers.Ott is a checking agitator...a good one... who will play on the 3rd/4th line and might put up around 10 goals.

I don't think it's ridiculous to feel that Ott will have a better year than last year...and that is what the Blues ownership is banking on. And $2.6 million may be a tad too much for Ott, but it's not a ridiculous contract. I'd have liked them to have signed Ott for closer to $2 million...but it is what it is. It's not like he'll be playing on the top 2 lines...if that was the plan, then I'd be on board with the outrage.

Considering our lack of depth at center, someone gets hurt, Ott will be playing mid - top line minutes and his ceiling is ridiculously low.

400k more for ONE year and we'd have had Boat.

2.6 could have easily gotten Scott Gomez + (note the plus). Why have players who can only perform in a limited role and not a player than can contribute across the board even if it's in smaller ways. Boat was a far more complete player than Ott. Ott doesn't bring in experience winning jack. I'm sorry I don't see the upside to this and would love to eat Crow and see him catch fire but I honestly don't see it in the xards.

Backes moves back to Center and Oshie moves to the top line and Jaskin/Rattie gets some ice time that way too. But I agree I would have talked to Gomez but Hitch wanted Ott so what can you do really?

I think Boat had already sailed (see what I did there) if Army was talking to him since after the playoffs in June and offered him several deals. Boat is making $4M tax free in the KHL. I'm not happy about it but it's not like he can come back to the NHL and play for another team those years roll...and the Blues didn't have enough cap space to give Boat $4M and sign Schwartz too. They just didn't. If you said I had to choose Schwartz or Sobotka it's not even a choice because Schwartz scores goals who will become a star and like it or not Boat is just a 3rd line center. I'll miss Boat but I would miss Schwartz more. The Blues move on.

Oaklandblue wrote:Sobotka's numbers and production might push him more towards a 3rd line/4th line assignment but nobody, absolutely NOBODY played with as much heart as him. Period. Boat had the team's pulse and that's all there is to it. You knock him down, you put him down, he got back up. People say Morrow is a warrior, but there ain't no other player on this team that's more a warrior than the Boat and that has to inspire his teammates and sets the bar for others. Really hoping he comes back to us soon.

With that said, How can anyone...anyone...defend us re-signing Ott? Oh wait, we need Centers, okay gotcha, but with that said....

2013 - 2014 0G/3A/-122012 - 2013 9G/11A -262012 - 2013 9G/15A -3

THIS IS WORTH 2.6M A YEAR? ON WHAT PLANET?

We could get an AHLer to do this much for league minimum. But we paid 2.6m for the throw-in for Ryan Miller.

But Ott's not as bad as we all think, right? Bullshit. He's worse.

Well, to be fair...Ott isn't being paid to put up good offensive numbers. That isn't his role...never has been, so it's not fair to post those numbers and say he isn't worth the money based on those numbers.Ott is a checking agitator...a good one... who will play on the 3rd/4th line and might put up around 10 goals.

I don't think it's ridiculous to feel that Ott will have a better year than last year...and that is what the Blues ownership is banking on. And $2.6 million may be a tad too much for Ott, but it's not a ridiculous contract. I'd have liked them to have signed Ott for closer to $2 million...but it is what it is. It's not like he'll be playing on the top 2 lines...if that was the plan, then I'd be on board with the outrage.

Considering our lack of depth at center, someone gets hurt, Ott will be playing mid - top line minutes and his ceiling is ridiculously low.

400k more for ONE year and we'd have had Boat.

2.6 could have easily gotten Scott Gomez + (note the plus). Why have players who can only perform in a limited role and not a player than can contribute across the board even if it's in smaller ways. Boat was a far more complete player than Ott. Ott doesn't bring in experience winning jack. I'm sorry I don't see the upside to this and would love to eat Crow and see him catch fire but I honestly don't see it in the xards.

Are you being serious about Gomez? However cheap he might be, he's 34 and he played only 46 games last season. Talk about a warm body. Gomez is ready for an assistant coach position.

Oaklandblue wrote:Sobotka's numbers and production might push him more towards a 3rd line/4th line assignment but nobody, absolutely NOBODY played with as much heart as him. Period. Boat had the team's pulse and that's all there is to it. You knock him down, you put him down, he got back up. People say Morrow is a warrior, but there ain't no other player on this team that's more a warrior than the Boat and that has to inspire his teammates and sets the bar for others. Really hoping he comes back to us soon.

With that said, How can anyone...anyone...defend us re-signing Ott? Oh wait, we need Centers, okay gotcha, but with that said....

2013 - 2014 0G/3A/-122012 - 2013 9G/11A -262012 - 2013 9G/15A -3

THIS IS WORTH 2.6M A YEAR? ON WHAT PLANET?

We could get an AHLer to do this much for league minimum. But we paid 2.6m for the throw-in for Ryan Miller.

But Ott's not as bad as we all think, right? Bullshit. He's worse.

Well, to be fair...Ott isn't being paid to put up good offensive numbers. That isn't his role...never has been, so it's not fair to post those numbers and say he isn't worth the money based on those numbers.Ott is a checking agitator...a good one... who will play on the 3rd/4th line and might put up around 10 goals.

I don't think it's ridiculous to feel that Ott will have a better year than last year...and that is what the Blues ownership is banking on. And $2.6 million may be a tad too much for Ott, but it's not a ridiculous contract. I'd have liked them to have signed Ott for closer to $2 million...but it is what it is. It's not like he'll be playing on the top 2 lines...if that was the plan, then I'd be on board with the outrage.

Considering our lack of depth at center, someone gets hurt, Ott will be playing mid - top line minutes and his ceiling is ridiculously low.

400k more for ONE year and we'd have had Boat.

2.6 could have easily gotten Scott Gomez + (note the plus). Why have players who can only perform in a limited role and not a player than can contribute across the board even if it's in smaller ways. Boat was a far more complete player than Ott. Ott doesn't bring in experience winning jack. I'm sorry I don't see the upside to this and would love to eat Crow and see him catch fire but I honestly don't see it in the xards.

Backes moves back to Center and Oshie moves to the top line and Jaskin/Rattie gets some ice time that way too. But I agree I would have talked to Gomez but Hitch wanted Ott so what can you do really?

I think Boat had already sailed (see what I did there) if Army was talking to him since after the playoffs in June and offered him several deals. Boat is making $4M tax free in the KHL. I'm not happy about it but it's not like he can come back to the NHL and play for another team those years roll...and the Blues didn't have enough cap space to give Boat $4M and sign Schwartz too. They just didn't. If you said I had to choose Schwartz or Sobotka it's not even a choice because Schwartz scores goals who will become a star and like it or not Boat is just a 3rd line center. I'll miss Boat but I would miss Schwartz more. The Blues move on.

Bingo about the tax free part of Sobotka's KHL contract.If he wanted to play in the KHL and if he's in it for the money, offering the same money wouldn't have landed him here...folks need to realize that. Sobotka would have had to have been offered substantially more than he was offered in the KHL for him to come out ahead money-wise here...assuming he would even consider playing in the NHL next season.

I'd have loved to have had Sobotka back, but it was likely going to take around $4 million...and that's just too much.

Oaklandblue wrote:Sobotka's numbers and production might push him more towards a 3rd line/4th line assignment but nobody, absolutely NOBODY played with as much heart as him. Period. Boat had the team's pulse and that's all there is to it. You knock him down, you put him down, he got back up. People say Morrow is a warrior, but there ain't no other player on this team that's more a warrior than the Boat and that has to inspire his teammates and sets the bar for others. Really hoping he comes back to us soon.

With that said, How can anyone...anyone...defend us re-signing Ott? Oh wait, we need Centers, okay gotcha, but with that said....

2013 - 2014 0G/3A/-122012 - 2013 9G/11A -262012 - 2013 9G/15A -3

THIS IS WORTH 2.6M A YEAR? ON WHAT PLANET?

We could get an AHLer to do this much for league minimum. But we paid 2.6m for the throw-in for Ryan Miller.

But Ott's not as bad as we all think, right? Bullshit. He's worse.

Well, to be fair...Ott isn't being paid to put up good offensive numbers. That isn't his role...never has been, so it's not fair to post those numbers and say he isn't worth the money based on those numbers.Ott is a checking agitator...a good one... who will play on the 3rd/4th line and might put up around 10 goals.

I don't think it's ridiculous to feel that Ott will have a better year than last year...and that is what the Blues ownership is banking on. And $2.6 million may be a tad too much for Ott, but it's not a ridiculous contract. I'd have liked them to have signed Ott for closer to $2 million...but it is what it is. It's not like he'll be playing on the top 2 lines...if that was the plan, then I'd be on board with the outrage.

Considering our lack of depth at center, someone gets hurt, Ott will be playing mid - top line minutes and his ceiling is ridiculously low.

As Misc. Blues said...Backes probably moves back to center in that scenario.Ott is not going to play on the top two lines...unless he deserves to based on his play...which won't happen.

400k more for ONE year and we'd have had Boat.

Nope. Very, very doubtful.Where did you get that info?

2.6 could have easily gotten Scott Gomez + (note the plus). Why have players who can only perform in a limited role and not a player than can contribute across the board even if it's in smaller ways.

Scott Gomez?You could get three Scott Gomez's for $2.6 million...and no thanks.Ott isn't an offensive guy, but he has better offensive numbers than Gomez the past few years, which is sad because Gomez's job is to provide offense.I'm not even sure why Gomez is still in the NHL. I wouldn't want him for free.

Boat was a far more complete player than Ott.

No argument from me on that...and I don't think anyone is saying Ott is the better player...he's not...not even close. But Boat didn't want to play here...so what are you going to do?

Ott doesn't bring in experience winning jack. I'm sorry I don't see the upside to this and would love to eat Crow and see him catch fire but I honestly don't see it in the xards.

Stastny doesn't bring any experience in winning either, should we not have acquired him?You are acting like we didn't want Sobotka and thought Ott was the better player. Armstrong and the Blues absolutely wanted Boat back...but it would have taken $4 million-plus to get him back (if he would have even come back), and that was just too much money for the organization...and it's hard to argue that.

Get your Google Translator ready. This article from iSport.cz details Vladimir Sobotka’s move to the KHL. While the translator is only moderately useful when it comes to understanding articles like this, it reveals a pretty interesting ending statement suggesting Sobotka has no intention of returning to the Blues.

Via iSport.cz:

“His plan? Mastering one year in Omsk, play in the domestic championship and then return to the NHL, where he would like to do another team.”

The translation, as rough as it may be, indicates Sobotka wants to spend one year in the KHL before returning to the NHL with a different team. We can’t really dig too far into this considering the fact a better translation may change a word and thus alter the meaning of the message, but it sounds like Sobotka wants to play for a new NHL club.

The issue here is that Sobotka will still owe the St. Louis Blues one year as soon as he returns to the NHL. This throws a wrench in his “return with another team” idea, but it could occur should he force the Blues to trade him to a new organization.

It’d be silly to read too far into this report, but it’s amazing how quickly a relationship between a team and a player can sour.

Sobotka added the decision to make the jump to the KHL was based on wanting "to prove that I am more" and "go to a team where [they] will respect me."

- From The Score.ca Because if there's something that the Blues did it wasn't respect Vladimir Sobotka, that's for sure. As much as I like Sobe as a player, I still think that he was overused on the second line despite his high corsi. This may've lead to him overvaluing himself, and adds to the absurdity of the situation.

Get your Google Translator ready. This article from iSport.cz details Vladimir Sobotka’s move to the KHL. While the translator is only moderately useful when it comes to understanding articles like this, it reveals a pretty interesting ending statement suggesting Sobotka has no intention of returning to the Blues.

Via iSport.cz:

“His plan? Mastering one year in Omsk, play in the domestic championship and then return to the NHL, where he would like to do another team.”

The translation, as rough as it may be, indicates Sobotka wants to spend one year in the KHL before returning to the NHL with a different team. We can’t really dig too far into this considering the fact a better translation may change a word and thus alter the meaning of the message, but it sounds like Sobotka wants to play for a new NHL club.

The issue here is that Sobotka will still owe the St. Louis Blues one year as soon as he returns to the NHL. This throws a wrench in his “return with another team” idea, but it could occur should he force the Blues to trade him to a new organization.

It’d be silly to read too far into this report, but it’s amazing how quickly a relationship between a team and a player can sour.

Sobotka added the decision to make the jump to the KHL was based on wanting "to prove that I am more" and "go to a team where [they] will respect me."

- From The Score.ca Because if there's something that the Blues did it wasn't respect Vladimir Sobotka, that's for sure. As much as I like Sobe as a player, I still think that he was overused on the second line despite his high corsi. This may've lead to him overvaluing himself, and adds to the absurdity of the situation.

What exactly has Sobotka done, offensively, that justifies his idea that he belongs in the front end of an NHL lineup? Try getting over 30 points more than once in your career...

I guess you can't blame the guy for wanting to improve his situation, but this is a strange way to do it.

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Just read an article in the Russian press that quoted the Avangard Omsk president as saying Boat would not be paid nowhere near $4mil. It is indeed a 3-year deal with an option to return to the NHL after one season. At the same time, other sources say that Boat believes Avangard is genuinely interested in him. Looks like he wasn't after the money after all.

ComradeT wrote:Just read an article in the Russian press that quoted the Avangard Omsk president as saying Boat would not be paid nowhere near $4mil. It is indeed a 3-year deal with an option to return to the NHL after one season. At the same time, other sources say that Boat believes Avangard is genuinely interested in him. Looks like he wasn't after the money after all.

???? So is he 100% signed with Omsk then? or is their deal not done yet either? Thats (Franking) confusing, I would rather him not come back anyway, but maybe we can trade his rights away for decent return if its 100% he will come back to whatever team we deal him to.

ComradeT wrote:Just read an article in the Russian press that quoted the Avangard Omsk president as saying Boat would not be paid nowhere near $4mil. It is indeed a 3-year deal with an option to return to the NHL after one season. At the same time, other sources say that Boat believes Avangard is genuinely interested in him. Looks like he wasn't after the money after all.

???? So is he 100% signed with Omsk then? or is their deal not done yet either? Thats (Frank) confusing, I would rather him not come back anyway, but maybe we can trade his rights away for decent return if its 100% he will come back to whatever team we deal him to.

The NHL should really have something written into contracts that prevent players from just bolting to other countries and holding themselves for ransom. If he was a UFA, fine, but he was an RFA. No other NHL team could pursue him, at least until after arbitration and only when we cut them free (if my understanding is correct), but I guess Russian teams can? He's still under the Blues control as of right now, so why is he signing another contract and playing for a different team?

I guess I just don't understand all the details of player contracts but it doesn't seem quite right to me. I always liked Sobotka, but he suddenly seems to have a really big head. He's a good player, but it's not like he's irreplaceable.

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ComradeT wrote:Just read an article in the Russian press that quoted the Avangard Omsk president as saying Boat would not be paid nowhere near $4mil. It is indeed a 3-year deal with an option to return to the NHL after one season. At the same time, other sources say that Boat believes Avangard is genuinely interested in him. Looks like he wasn't after the money after all.

???? So is he 100% signed with Omsk then? or is their deal not done yet either? Thats (Frank) confusing, I would rather him not come back anyway, but maybe we can trade his rights away for decent return if its 100% he will come back to whatever team we deal him to.

He is signed. It's a 3-year contract with an option to come back to the NHL in one year. If that other source quoted above is correct in that he'd rather sign with another team than play with the Blues, there will have to be a trade regardless of when he decides to come back.

Not that they'd score a whole lot in a trade right now, but couldn't they trade his rights immediately, even though he's playing over in Putinland for at least one season? Sobotka for Radulov straight up? Is Radulov still under control of the Predators? Maybe he'd be willing to stay in America to play for a real team.